A Leap of Faith
by kazoquel4
Summary: When a young Muggle girl attempts to steal Charlie's groceries in Romania, he finds himself dragged into the world of Faith, an abused girl on the run from her family. And when his acts of kindness create a bond between the two, what will Charlie do to fight for her?


**Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter.**

Charlie Weasley checked his watch as he made his way down the crowded street. 5:04, time to grab a bite to eat before turning in for the night. He swung the paper bag filled to the brim with groceries by his side, dangling it haphazardly in his hand. He was glad his provisions only included cereals and crackers, as he didn't want to have to deal with the repercussions of accidentally breaking a dozen eggs, as he would surely do. Charlie could rarely deliver breakable items to his apartment without smashing _some _of it.

He briefly debated stopping by a restaurant or café for his evening meal, but, glancing at the setting sun, decided against it. He just wanted to get something and go home. The dragon reserve he worked at had received a new Norwegian Ridgeback last week, and Charlie had been working overtime to try and tame it even a little bit. Luckily, that particular species of dragon are the easiest to work with, and in no time Charlie was able to get close enough to it to feed it without getting fried. All in all, a productive week.

A street vendor stood off to the side, advertising his stock of civrigi. Charlie stopped by, ordered one, and handed over the money, sparing a smile for the tired-looking seller. Wandering a few feet away, Charlie dropped his bag on the sidewalk and sat on the curb, unwrapping the warm pastry.

Charlie had developed a taste for civrigi as soon as he had first come to Romania. The pretzel-like pastries coated in poppy seeds were delicious, cheap, and very convenient. It was no wonder Charlie, a hard-working wizard at the local dragon reserve, found himself grabbing one for a quick snack or meal almost once a day. It was much easier than sitting in to some fancy meal, if you asked him. Not that anyone did, of course.

He tore off a piece of his pretzel, watching the hot steam rise into the air. Popping it into his mouth, he chewed slowly, savoring the taste of the pastry. Content and slowly warming up, he let his mind wander to his day at work.

His good friend Isaiah had taken off around noon, shouting over his shoulder that his wife was in labor. Charlie had wished him luck, happy that Isaiah would finally have the child he had been taking about for the past few months. He had been so excited to learn that he would be a father, and Charlie had been glad for him; now, however, the news that another of his friends would be a father strung a sour note in Charlie's chest.

It's not that he wanted to get married. No, Charlie was in no rush to do that, even though he had recently turned twenty-nine. He just hadn't met the right person yet, if that person was out there, and he wasn't going to force himself into anything. But if there was one thing Charlie did long for, it had to be a child. He had a feeling he wasn't quite ready for it yet, but the notion still appealed to him. Watching the relationships between father and son, father and daughter, it made Charlie wonder if he would be able to handle a kid of his own.

Then Charlie shook himself, letting out a small laugh. He shouldn't be thinking like this; chances were he would never have a child, and that was fine by him. He had plenty of nieces and nephews to keep him happy, anyways, and he knew there were more on the way, if his brother's and sister's relationships kept going the same way they had been.

Charlie felt a small smile spread across his face as he thought of his very large family. He missed them. It had been a couple of months since he had returned home, and his mother had been bothering him about it for the past few weeks, pushing for him to come. Leaning on his knee, he took another bite of his civigri, running through dates in his head. If nothing came up at work, he should actually have an opening in his schedule in a couple weeks. Maybe he would pop back over to England then, get his mother off his back for a while. Besides, it would be nice to see his family again.

There was a rustling noise behind him. Charlie glanced behind him nonchalantly, taking in the sight of a little girl going through his groceries. Yawning, he turned back to face the street, bringing up his pastry to take another bite.

Then, what he had just seen processed in his brain. Eyes widening, he whirled around, staring as a girl maybe eleven or twelve looked back at him with big blue eyes, her arm elbow deep in his bag of groceries.

"Er… what are you doing?" Charlie asked, blinking.

In one swift movement, the girl stood, clutching a large box of crackers in her hands. She turned on her heels and ran down the sidewalk, clutching the box to her chest protectively.

Charlie leaped to his feet, dropping the last of his civigri. Not even sparing a thought for the rest of his groceries lying on the curb, he took off after the girl, dodging through the crowd and trying desperately to keep her in sight.

She was fast; Charlie would give her that much. She maneuvered her way through the crowd with ease, slipping under outstretched arms and sidestepping people who were walking too slow. A few people glared at her as she pushed through the throngs of people, muttering in Romanian about rude little girls with no manners. They became even more infuriated when Charlie came crashing after her, not bothering to apologize and risk losing the girl- and his crackers.

"Stop!" he shouted, not even thinking about the fact that the girl most likely couldn't understand English. "Oy, you, girl! Stop right there!"

She glanced over her shoulder, her short black hair flying in her face. Her eyes were wide, and, catching sight of Charlie still chasing her, she turned around and ran harder, putting her head down and doubling her speed.

Charlie's legs ached. His lungs thirsted for air, and it cost him physical pain to pour on the speed to stay with the thief. He hadn't run like this in a long time; although he was kept in excellent shape because of his job, long-distance sprinting just wasn't his strong-point. He remembered a time when he had been in Hogwarts, many years ago, that he would take jogs in the morning to keep in shape for Quidditch. Ah, those were the days.

The girl cut into an alleyway, disappearing from the sidewalk. Clenching his jaw and taking a deep breath, Charlie sprinted the rest of the way, skidding around the corner and peeking into the dim alleyway.

A pair of bright eyes gleamed back at him from the darkness, illuminated in the faint light streaming through the opening behind Charlie. The girl was standing with her back to a wall, looking around wildly.

She had found a dead-end.

Charlie put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. He looked up to shoot a sharp glare at the girl, struggling to draw air into his burning lungs.

"You… little… thief," he panted, trying to get his air back. Now that he had stopped running, his legs felt tired, and he ached to sit down. Nevertheless, he straightened up, running a hand through his red hair and peering through the darkness.

"You took my crackers," he accused, frowning at the girl.

He couldn't see her well in the dimness, but he could tell when her posture straightened, her chin jutting out stubbornly. "It was one box," she said in a steady voice. She didn't seem to be the least bit winded and Charlie realized, with surprise, that she was speaking English. "You had a whole bag of groceries lying there."

"I paid for those!" Charlie protested. "You can't just take them!"

"You weren't paying very good attention to them," she protested. "What did you think was going to happen? You had your back completely turned!"

Charlie narrowed his eyes, annoyance settling over him. He just wanted his crackers back so he could go home!

"That doesn't give you a right to steal them if they aren't your property," he said adamantly.

He heard a small scoff from her direction. "Fine," she muttered. "Take them, I don't want any trouble."

Charlie was glad he had quick reflexes as she tossed the box over to him. He caught it easily, feeling the crackers shake inside. The cardboard was practically crushed, and he was sure the crackers inside resembled their container. He tucked it under his arm, squinting into the shadows.

"I should report you to the police," he said slowly.

"No!" came the reply, surprisingly panicked. The girl backed a few more steps away, seeming frightened. Charlie was taken-aback; throughout their discussion, the girl had seemed rather arrogant, and not in the least bit scared.

"Why not?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because…" she trailed off, seeming to wrack her brain. Letting out a defeated sigh, she said quietly, "Please, don't."

Charlie felt something stir inside him at how defeated she sounded. Shifting the box around, he decided to ask another question to better gauge the girls' personality.

"You speak English," he said simply.

"So do you," she responded easily.

Charlie appraised her from across the alley. She cut a slight figure, silhouetted as she was against the brick wall behind her. Cocking his head slightly to the side, he asked, "Why did you steal my food?"

The girl was silent for a few moments. Just when Charlie was sure she wasn't going to respond, and was going over what he could do, she spoke again.

"I was hungry," she muttered, so quietly Charlie had to strain his ears in order to hear.

And then it clicked; she was probably homeless. There were plenty of those people wandering around, although Charlie had never been confronted so openly by one. He wondered despite himself if she was alone, or if she was in the care of another. She probably hadn't eaten in a while. No wonder she had seen the chance to eat and taken it.

Something tugged in Charlie's chest and he knew he couldn't just walk away from her. Even though she had stolen from him, it was against his beliefs to turn away a hungry child. His mother had taught him to help other people at all times, especially when they were in need. And, from what he had seen, this girl needed some help.

"Well," he said lightly, "it's dinnertime, and I would hate for anyone to go hungry. Can I get you something?"

There was a shocked silence. Charlie could feel the girl's gaze on him, and he tried to stay as relaxed and friendly as possible. He knew this wasn't the reaction she had been expecting; just a few minutes ago he had been threatening her with the police, and now he was offering to take her to dinner.

She seemed to have the same ideas. Finally, she said hesitantly, "Get me something?"

"Something to eat," Charlie explained. "Besides crackers, I mean. I doubt they would make the best meal. Do you want to grab a quick pastry or something?"

She hesitated again. "But… I stole from you," she said uncertainly.

"And I got it back," Charlie said simply. "You said you were hungry, and I'm offering to get you something to eat. What do you say?"

The girl took a step closer, peering at him. "No tricks?" she said suspiciously.

"No tricks," Charlie responded without hesitation, meaning every word.

Slowly, the girl walked out of the shadows. Charlie stepped back out into the crowded street, letting her cautiously poke her head out, looking him over.

"Come on," he said, gesturing with his head down the street. "Let's go see if my groceries are still there, or if someone else picked them up."

He started walking. After a moment, he was aware that she was trailing after him, keeping a large amount of distance between them. Charlie had no problem with that; he understood her mistrust of him. He was, after all, a strange man that had offered to get her food. Instead, he kept his head forward, not looking back, but confidently weaving his way through the people and trusting her to follow after him. If she didn't, she would never see him again. It was as simple as that.

After a few minutes, Charlie truly wondered if she was still behind him. More likely was the possibility that she had scampered off as soon as she had realized he wasn't going to keep a watch over her. She obviously still harbored her suspicions that Charlie was leading her straight to the police, and if she had made a run for it, that was her decision. But Charlie hoped she hadn't; despite the fact that he had caught her red-handed in the act of taking his property, the girl intrigued him, and he wanted to talk to her a bit more.

The curb he had been sitting on came into view. To his great relief, his bag still sat there, full of food. Everyone was ignoring it, leaving it sitting there, and Charlie was grateful. He didn't want all that money he had spent to go to waste. He worked hard for that, and having it all taken wouldn't be that fun.

He stopped at the civigri stand, glancing over his shoulder. To his surprise, the girl was still behind him, standing there awkwardly. Trying to hide the smile that was spreading across his face, he turned to the cart and ordered two more pastries, one for him to make up for the other he had dropped.

When he received the food, he turned and marched back over to his curb. The girl stared as he sat down resolutely, staring at her expectantly. Cautiously, she came forward, lowering herself to sit down a couple feet away from him.

"Here you go," he said, handing over one of the pastries.

She took it without a word, snatching it quickly from his hand. Not looking at him, she leaned in close to look at the food, as though seeing if it was satisfactory. Letting the rude behavior slide, Charlie took a bite of his own pretzel. Reaching behind him, he pointedly grabbed his grocery bag and set it in front of him, refusing to have a repeat of what had just happened.

Seemingly having finished her inspection of the food, the girl had taken a bite. And another. And another. She was eating at a surprising pace, hardly chewing at all. It was as if she had never seen food before. And now that she was distracted, Charlie took the time to study her, out in the sunlight where he could actually make out her features.

Her deeply tanned skin made it obvious she was out in the sun a lot. Messy black hair fell to her shoulders, tangled and dirty. Bright blue eyes gleamed out from an angular face, and a handful of freckles were sprinkled across her pointed nose. She was dressed in a faded blue sweater pockmarked with holes and rips; her jeans were coated in mud. Her clothes hung off her slight frame, as though she had shrunk in the past few months.

Charlie felt a frown settle across his face as he took her in. She was too skinny, much too skinny. He knew his mother had a habit of saying that to any child she came across, but he was completely sure that girls were not supposed to be that slim.

"You're staring," she said in a quiet voice, not looking at him.

Charlie blinked, startled. "Am I?" he asked casually, switching his pretzel to his other hand as his fingers started to burn.

She didn't answer him. Instead, she took another bite of her food, chewing slowly.

Charlie ripped off a piece, tossing it into his mouth. He swallowed quickly and said abruptly, "My name is Charlie Weasley."

The girl looked surprised. Scuffing her sneaker-clad feet at the ground, she said, "Nice to meet you, Charlie Weasley."

There was a moment of silence. Charlie picked a poppy seed off of his civigri, rolling it between his fingers.

"I suppose you have a name as well, don't you?" he asked, unable to stand the silence.

"I do," the girl said shortly.

When she didn't continue, Charlie said, "Enlighten me?"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, looking suspicious. Charlie rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on," he said. "If I had been planning on reporting you to the police, don't you think I would have done it already?"

The girl finished off her civigri. Crumpling her wrapper in her hand, a thoughtful look crossed her face. Finally, she said, "My name is Faith."

Charlie twitched his lips into a smile. "Pleasure to meet you, Faith," he said, tipping an invisible hat in her direction.

Her eyes tracked his food as he tore off another piece, almost as if she was doing it unconsciously. Noticing this, Charlie held it out to her.

"Here," he offered.

Faith immediately shrunk away. "Er- no, it's alright," she said quickly. "I've had enough-"

"Go on," Charlie said in a gentle but firm voice. "I'm stuffed. These things sure are filling."

Hesitantly, ever so cautiously, Faith reached out and grabbed Charlie's half-eaten pretzel. Again, she commenced her inspection of it, just as she had the first one.

"So, Faith," Charlie said casually, propping his chin up on his fist. "How old are you?"

Faith swallowed the huge bite she had taken as soon as she had finished inspecting her food. "Eleven," she said in a soft voice, eyeing her food hungrily.

"You're a bit young to be a thief," Charlie went on lightly, not looking at her.

Faith's eyes flicked up briefly. "I guess," she muttered, tossing the last of her pretzel in her mouth.

Charlie knew he was making her uncomfortable, but he needed to know something. So, dearly hoping that he wouldn't frighten her off, he said, "I don't suppose your parents know about this?"

It was the wrong thing to say. Faith stiffened as though an electrical current had run through her spinal cord. She stood up stiffly, crumpling the wrapper in her fist. Eyebrows furrowed, she said sharply, "I don't have parents."

Charlie opened his mouth to apologize, but Faith kept talking. "Thank you very much for the dinner, Mr. Weasley. I'm very sorry about trying to steal your crackers. Goodbye."

She turned on her heel and walked away, moving quickly. It was obvious she was trying to get away.

"Wait- Faith!" Charlie called out, leaping to his feet. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he knew he couldn't just let her walk away. Not after their discussion, not after everything. He had to do _something. _

Faith ground to a halt reluctantly. She glanced over her shoulder, her expression uneasy. "What?" she asked cautiously.

"7:45, tomorrow morning," Charlie said without thinking. "Be here and I'll get you something to eat."

Faith stared at him. Then she spun around and sprinted off, disappearing into the diminishing crowd.

Charlie stood there, looking after her long after she was gone. Then, with a mighty sigh, he turned around, leaned down to pick up his groceries, and stood back up.

And finally, after one of the longest days of his life, he began the trek back to his apartment, and to a nice warm bed.

* * *

**A/N: So, if no one noticed, Faith is a character from my other story, Lost in Your Eyes. However, you don't need to read that to understand this at all. And, changed from that story, Harry will not have run off; so, this is pretty much its own story.**

**Just to let everyone know, I've never been to Romania, and never been out of the country, so I'm not a traveler and suck at writing different countries. But I tried it; please be nice if I got something wrong.**

**R&R**


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